The All Seasons Gardener: Getting More From Your Canadian Garden

Patricia Morley is professor emerita of English and Canadian studies at
Concordia University, Japan Foundation Fellow 1991-92, and the author of
Margaret Laurence: The Long Journey Home and As Though Life Mattered:
Leo Kennedy’s Story.

The All-Seasons Gardener is a handsome book whose large format, fine
paper, and beautiful color illustrations could grace a coffee table. But
is also a vast store of practical gardening techniques for Canada’s
four-season climate.

Mark Cullen, author of A Greener Thumb and co-author of The Real Dirt,
is one of Canada’s best-known gardening experts. He offers regular
gardening commentary on CFRB Radio and CTV’s “Canada AM,” and
writes a syndicated gardening column in newspapers throughout Canada.

Cullen begins the book, engagingly, by noting that it “contains lots
of stories” but is “not a storybook.” He calls it a handy
reference guide to garden activity, “a guide to gardening year-round.
Indoors, outdoors, with kids, with new tools and innovative gardening
solutions, and with some long-forgotten but tried-and-true
activities.” His gardening advice is organized into four sections: one
for each season, beginning with winter. With three chapters in each
section, the book has 12 chapters, one for each month. The December
chapter, “Festive Gardening,” offers advice not only on winter
maintenance but also on Christmas decorating with evergreen “ropes,”
wreaths, and a children’s terrarium. Intelligent formatting, including
the use of bold headings and subheadings, makes the advice accessible.
Many procedures are illustrated. Everything is clear, useful, and
specific. The style is conversational and friendly.

The-All Seasons Gardener is a mine of information, even for experienced
gardeners. (Have you heard of compost “teas” to help ailing plants?)
It includes a select bibliography and an extensive index.